Julian Assange fails in bid for bail over concerns about health in prison

A bid to have WikiLeaks cofounder Julian Assange released from jail on bail over fears he may contract the novel coronavirus has been rejected by a judge in London.

The 48-year-old Australian is currently being held in Belmarsh Prison and could face extradition to the United States on charges of violating the Espionage Act and publishing thousands of classified documents, some relating to alleged war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. Those charges carry a maximum penalty of 175 years' imprisonment.

Assange's lawyer Edward Fitzgerald QC, who wore a face mask during the hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court, said Assange's history of chest and tooth infections as well as osteoporosis meant he was at a higher risk from the virus, and mentioned how his defense team had recently been refused access to Belmarsh Prison because of 100 prison staff members being in self-isolation.

It is estimated that nationwide, 10 percent of Britain's prison officers are currently off duty after displaying virus symptoms.

A statement read out in court on behalf of Assange's unnamed partner described the conditions in which he was being kept.

"For 23 hours a day he is in solitary," the statement read. "The opportunity for infection of corona (coronavirus) are still there because he is exercising with 40 other people in a confined space. All the fears we have become compounded.

"He may himself die due to increased risk of exposure. All past lifelines of support for him have been shut down. I was told the weekly visits will be cut down and now I'm told they will not take place at all."

But in rejecting the bid, District Judge Vanessa Baraitser said that there had been no confirmed virus cases at the prison and that it was following government guidelines. She also noted that Assange had absconded before, having spent seven years in the Ecuadorian embassy in London in a bid to avoid extradition to Sweden over unrelated charges.

"I have heard evidence that Assange would consider suicide before being allowed to be extradited to the United States," she said.

"There is a high risk of extradition. No court wishes to keep a defendant in custody, even less so during the emergency we are now experiencing. But Mr Assange's past conduct shows the lengths he is willing to go to escape proceedings."

Although she said government guidelines may change in the light of the way the coronavirus outbreak was developing, for the time being, there was no reason to grant bail, adding "As matters stand today this global pandemic does not, of itself, yet provide grounds for Mr Assange's release."

Clair Dobbin, representing the US government in the hearing via a conference call link, said Assange's previous behavior proved that there was a high risk he would try to abscond.

"There are insurmountable hurdles for Mr Assange being granted bail," she said. "He has been tested before and failed."

His extradition case was adjourned until April 7.